(10-08-2012, 07:57 AM)Mercy Now Wrote: Ashanti said:"Yes, I agree with this. And US laws protect cults under the guise of "religious freedom", so cults are free to abuse people as much as they please, and the law protects them. "Apologies, that was poorly worked. Let me try again: I have been following some legal cases in the US, versus in other regions like Europe, for quite some time, with regards to individuals applying for relief to courts for abuse they endured at the hands of cults. While religious freedom is a worthy principle, the way the law is structured in the US, specifically with regard to "Ministerial exception", the tenet of religious freedom is used by cults as a cloak to get away with abusing their parishioners, and court rulings have supported this, even when there has been clear evidence of abuse. In other words, cults have the right to abuse their parishioners and clients in the US. In Europe, it is different, where courts have weighed up the evidence and found that a cult claiming religious freedom cannot be more favourably weighted than the individual rights of the clients to not be abused.
Guise by definition means false appearance.
Please explain why you believe the U.S. religous freedom laws to be a "false appearance".
The evidence for what I am saying about US is contained in the court documents archived here: http://www.scribd.com/collections/352793...rc-Headley
And if you do not mind to take some time to go through even the main parts of it, it will shed more light on what I am referring to. Marc and Claire Headley were two Scientologists who endured the most disgusting levels of abuse at the hands of Scientology, provided clear evidence, but the courts supported Scientology, and the Headleys lost, and had to pay punitive damages for bringing the suits.
It was a disgusting travesty of justice, which has sickened many people around the world, and the message is clear: In the US, do not bother to seek any justice against abusive cults, because the law is structured to be on the side of the cult, as long as it is a registered "religion". Had the Headleys brought their suit against Scientology in Europe, they would have won, because Europe is far more savvy on the issue of cults than the US, and is still concerned (at least on the surface) with the rights of their individual citizens.
- ashanti